


.okay

by AkaToMidori



Series: Okay [1]
Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: AU, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-19 03:57:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22338085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkaToMidori/pseuds/AkaToMidori
Summary: He heard his friend sing under his breath, and he dared to take a look. Aiba’s honey-colored bangs were falling gracefully on his eyes, resisting the hand that tried to push the hair away every once in a while. His nose and his cheeks were slightly red from the cold outside, and his lips looked as dry as ever, but his gaze was warm, and he had a playful smile on his mouth.Sho lowered his eyes, recognizing the familiar feeling in his chest as his heart rate started to accelerate.
Relationships: Aiba Masaki/Sakurai Sho
Series: Okay [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1607941
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15
Collections: Sakuraiba Tanabata 2019-2020





	.okay

**Author's Note:**

> _Jan 20_  
>  Prompt: “That’s irrational.”

If he hadn’t been so busy, Sho would have heard Aiba’s heavy steps alerting him of his presence even before he turned the key in the hole and called out to him with a loud “Sho-chaaan.” 

His friend walked in his apartment without waiting for a reply that was surely never going to come. Aiba knew him well enough to know that when Sho was working, he would be in his own world, and Sho was working most of the time because it just so happened that he loved his job too much to ever stop. 

Aiba found him in the living room, sitting at the table in front of his computer. He had his pajamas on, but it was too early to go to bed, so it wasn’t a surprise to him when he heard Aiba asking if he had spent the whole day in it. He shrugged and his friend giggled under his breath. 

“What are you laughing at?” Sho’s voice croaked. 

“You’re cute with those glasses,” Aiba shamelessly said, putting his plastic bags on the table. 

Sho scoffed and pushed his new prescription glasses up his nose. He hated the things so much, but since he started wearing them while working on his computer, Aiba never stopped making comments like that, and he secretly enjoyed it, even if it flustered him to no end.

He heard his friend sing under his breath, and he dared to take a look. Aiba’s honey-colored bangs were falling gracefully on his eyes, resisting the hand that tried to push the hair away every once in a while. His nose and his cheeks were slightly red from the cold outside, and his lips looked as dry as ever, but his gaze was warm, and he had a playful smile on his mouth. 

Sho lowered his eyes, recognizing the familiar feeling in his chest as his heart rate started to accelerate. He didn’t know when all this started, but it was getting ridiculous, and it needed to stop. He couldn’t be having feelings for the one he considered to be his best friend since he was five – now almost twenty-three years ago. Sho had been no stranger to the occasional crush on guys, but he had never actually acted on any of them. And anyway, his friends had always been off limit, yet here he was, sweating at the thought of pushing those strands of hair from Aiba’s eyes himself, so he could look at him better before he went in for a kiss. 

“What are you doing?” 

Sho jumped. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice that Aiba had come behind him, and was now resting his chin on his shoulder to look at his computer. He tried to regain his composure, but having Aiba so close to his face wasn’t making things easy.

“I’m working,” he said, in what he hoped sounded like a casual tone. 

“Is it a good book?” Aiba asked, returning to his plastic bags, pulling containers out of them. 

“I wish!” Sho replied with an irritated voice that said it all. 

Aiba put the last container on the table and looked at him with sympathy. “Ninomiya-san?” 

Sho made an angry gesture. Ninomiya was the owner of the publishing house Sho worked at as an editor. At twenty-six, he was also his boss, but by no merit other than being the former boss’ son. He had no knowledge nor talent for anything regarding books, on the contrary, he would spend most of his time gaming, which was not only ironic, but also irritated Sho to no end. But the worst thing was that he described himself as “someone with a great business sense,” which was code for “an asshole who will publish the same kind of commercial books over and over so long as they bring in money.” 

“He has a degree in economy!” Sho vented as he added a new note on the latest celebrity’s memoir. “What does he even know about books anyway!?” 

Aiba patted him lightly on the shoulder. “I know, I know. You say that every time.” He went to the kitchen briefly, and when he came back he started to set the table. 

Sho clicked furiously on his keyboard. “I hate that guy,” he muttered. 

Aiba nodded in agreement. “He sounds like a jerk from what you tell me.” He stopped for a second to ponder. “Maybe you should just do like I did. Quit your job and open your own publishing house. You certainly have the talent for it.” 

Sho snorted. “No offense, Aiba, but opening a Chinese restaurant and building a publishing house from scratch is not the same thing.” 

Aiba pretended to pout. “Are you saying your job is harder than mine?” 

“That’s not—” Sho started justifying himself before he saw Aiba trying to hide his laugh. “Yeah, so what if I am?” he played along, teasing him with a grin. 

“Then you can kiss your dinner and your best friend goodbye,” Aiba said. To make his point, he started to put the containers back in the bags. 

“No, wait, come on,” Sho looked at him from behind his laptop. “I was kidding. I’m sorry, I value our friendship, you’re the best cook ever.” He made puppy eyes at Aiba, who rolled his eyes with a slight smile. He checked the clock on the wall in front of him. “Speaking about cooking… isn’t it early? You usually come after closing down.” 

Aiba lowered his gaze in embarrassment and started to open the containers. “Oh, you know… it was a quiet night, so I thought I could close early…” 

Sho closed the lid of his laptop. “I know that look,” he said. 

Aiba giggled nervously. “What look? There’s no look. This is my normal look.” 

“No,” Sho said. “That is the look when you’re hiding something from me. Spill it.” 

Aiba sighed. They both knew there was no point in trying to hide anything. They knew each other too well to not know when something was wrong. 

“Okay, but don’t be mad…” he started. 

Sho’s attention perked up at those words.

“So, Jun-kun came by…” Aiba shot him a nervous glance. 

Sho sucked on his teeth and clenched his fists under the table. “Matsumoto Jun, your bastard ex, came by?” He hated that guy with a passion. He still remembered how broken Aiba was a couple of years before, when Matsumoto dumped him for the man he was cheating on him with. “What did that scum want? Did he make a pass at you?” he added, a little nervous. Aiba had been so in love with Matsumoto, he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t end up falling in his arms again, if given the chance.

Aiba chuckled humorlessly. “I don’t think he would have tried that in front of his date.” 

Sho’s fists relaxed a little. “He brought a date to your restaurant?” 

Aiba nodded with a sad smile. 

“I can’t believe that guy,” Sho murmured. “How dare he bring a date to your restaurant? How dare he even come at all?” 

“It’s okay, Sho-chan,” Aiba said in a little voice. “I was just a little shook when they called me because they said somebody asked to see the chef and I found him there. He said that the food was excellent and that he just had to compliment me.” He smiled feebly at him. 

“And that made you happy?” Sho inquired, not sure he wanted to hear the reply. 

“Well, he is a world renowned food critic…” he trailed off. 

“Food critic my ass,” Sho muttered. He didn’t know what was his goal, but he was sure that Matsumoto did that on purpose so he could upset Aiba. “And so you closed up early?” 

Aiba shrugged as he finished distributing the food in their plates. “I was feeling a bit down after that, and it really was a slow night, so…” 

Sho didn’t say anything. He pressed his lips tightly together and took the plate Aiba was handing him. 

“ _Karaage_ again?” 

Aiba grinned as he happily bit on some of the fried chicken. 

Sho sat down next to him, and bumped on his shoulder playfully, chuckling a bit when Aiba bumped him back. 

“This is nice,” Aiba said after a while. “I’m actually glad I closed earlier so we can spend more time together. I’d take this over anything else.” 

Sho got a bit flustered at that. “That’s irrational,” he stuttered. “There are so many better things you could do with your night.” 

Aiba seemed to think it over a bit. “Yeah, maybe you’re right,” he said, stealing his last bite of _karaage_.

“Hey!” 

Aiba giggled as Sho chased him to get his food back. Maybe he would never be able to be as good as Matsumoto in his best friend’s eyes, and maybe he would never be able to confess his love to him. But as long as he was still able to make him laugh, it would be okay.


End file.
